Bel-Air (TV series)

Bel-Air
Genre	Drama
Created by	Andy Borowitz & Susan Borowitz
Based on	On a Story by Andy Borowitz & Susan Borowitz On a Format by Benny Medina & Jeff Pollack
Developed by	Morgan Cooper & Malcolm Spellman & TJ Brady & Rasheed Newson
Starring	Jabari Banks Jimmy Akingbola Olly Sholotan Coco Jones Akira Akbar Simone Joy Jones Jordan L. Jones Adrian Holmes
Music by	Terrace Martin Robert Glasper
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	9
Production
Executive producers	TJ Brady & Rasheed Newson Morgan Cooper Will Smith Terence Carter James Lassiter Miguel Melendez Malcolm Spellman Benny Medina Quincy Jones Andy Borowitz & Susan Borowitz
Producers	Debra Lovatelli Jeff Rafner Jason B. Harkins
Cinematography	James Hawkinson Christopher Soos
Editors	Jennifer Barbot Christopher S. Capp Angela Latimer Shoshanah Tanzer Mark Heiliger
Running time	46–60 minutes
Production companies	Arbolada Roads Ra Shines Inc. Cooper Films The 51 Westbrook Studios Universal Television
Release
Original network	Peacock
Original release	February 13, 2022 (2022-02-13) – present (present)

Bel-Air is an American drama streaming television series developed by Morgan Cooper, Malcolm Spellman, TJ Brady, and Rasheed Newson. It is a reimagined version of the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and is based on Cooper's short fan film of the same name. It stars Jabari Banks, Adrian Holmes, , Olly Sholotan, Coco Jones, Akira Akbar, Jimmy Akingbola, Jordan L. Jones, and Simone Joy Jones. The series premiered on Peacock on February 13, 2022.^[1]

Premise[]

The series follows Will Smith's complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air.^[2]

Cast and characters[]

Main[]

• Jabari Banks as Will Smith, a 16-year-old from West Philadelphia who is sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle in Bel-Air by his mother, Vy
• as Vivian Banks, Will's Aunt, wife of Philip, mother of Hilary, Carlton and Ashley and sister of Vy
• Jimmy Akingbola as Geoffrey Thompson, the House Manager of the Banks', originally from Jamaica before moving to London as a child
• Olly Sholotan as Carlton Banks, the lacrosse-playing middle child of Viv and Phil and Will's cousin and adversary
• Coco Jones as Hilary Banks, a social media influencer, excellent chef and eldest child of Viv and Phil and Will's cousin
• Akira Akbar as Ashley Banks, the 12-year-old youngest child of Viv and Phil and Will's cousin
• Simone Joy Jones as Lisa Wilkes, a potential love interest of Will, and Carlton's ex. She is also on the swim team.
• Jordan L. Jones as Jazz, a taxi driver Will met and bonded with when he arrived at LAX. He also owns a record store and has a crush on Hilary.
• Adrian Holmes as Philip Banks, Will's lawyer uncle, husband of Viv and father of Hilary, Carlton and Ashley

Recurring[]

• April Parker Jones as Viola 'Vy' Smith, Will's mother
• SteVonté Hart as Tray Melbert, Will's former best friend in Philadelphia
• Tyler Barnhardt as Connor Satterfield, Carlton's best friend
• Joe Holt as Fred Wilkes, Lisa's father who is a police officer
• Charlie Hall as Tyler Laramy, Will's friend and basketball teammate at Bel-Air Academy
• Jon Beavers as Kylo
• Duane Martin as Steven Lewis, Phillip's campaign manager

Guest[]

• Big Boy as himself, who interviews Philip in the second episode
• D Smoke as himself, who performs at his concert that Philip, Tray and Will attend in the fifth episode
• Scottie Thompson as Angela Wilkes, Lisa's stepmother and Fred's second wife

Special guest stars[]

• Daphne Maxwell Reid as Janice, a board member of the Art Council. Reid previously was the second actress to portray Vivian Banks in the original series.^[3]
• Vernee Watson-Johnson as Helen, another board member of the Art Council. Watson-Johnson previously portrayed Viola 'Vy' Smith in the original series.^[3]

Production[]

Development[]

On March 10, 2019, Morgan Cooper uploaded Bel-Air to YouTube. The submission was a fan film, written and directed by him, in the form of a mock trailer for an updated and dramatic reimagining of the television sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.^[4][5] Will Smith, who starred in the original sitcom as a fictionalized version of himself, heavily praised the fan film and expressed his interest in expanding the concept into a reboot, personally meeting with Cooper.^[6][7] On August 11, 2020, the series was officially announced after being in the works for over a year. At the time, Netflix, HBO Max, and Peacock were bidding for the rights to the series.^[8] On September 8, 2020, Peacock gave the series a two-season order under the title Bel-Air, with Westbrook Inc. and Universal Television producing. Smith and Cooper executive produce alongside Terence Carter, James Lassiter, Miguel Melendez, Malcolm Spellman, Quincy Jones, Benny Medina, Andy Borowitz, and Susan Borowitz.^[9] An online premiere for the series was held on February 9, 2022, by Crown & Conquer.^[10] The series premiered on Peacock on February 13, 2022, with its first three episodes.^[1][11]

Casting[]

In August 2021, Smith surprised Jabari Banks with the news that Banks would star as the lead.^[12][13] In September 2021, Adrian Holmes, , Olly Sholotan, Coco Jones, Akira Akbar, Jimmy Akingbola, Jordan L. Jones, and Simone Joy Jones joined the cast as series regulars.^[14] In January 2022, Karrueche Tran, Duane Martin, Joe Holt, April Parker Jones, SteVonté Hart, Scottie Thompson, and Charlie Hall in recurring roles.^[15] In March 2022, it was reported that Daphne Maxwell Reid and Vernee Watson-Johnson are set to guest star on episode 9 which set to be released on March 24.^[3]

Filming[]

Principal photography was scheduled to take place in Los Angeles and Philadelphia.^[14] On January 7, 2022, it was reported that the series had some positive COVID-19 tests on set, but production was not impacted.^[16]

Episodes[]

No.	Title [11]	Directed by	Written by	Original release date [11]
1	"Dreams and Nightmares"	Morgan Cooper	Morgan Cooper & Malcolm Spellman & TJ Brady & Rasheed Newson	February 13, 2022 (2022-02-13)
This episode's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (February 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Will Smith is a swaggy West Philly teen and straight-A student with a high chance of winning a college basketball scholarship. After a game, he and his best friend Tray are insulted by Darnell, the local bully, and end up making a bet with local drug lord Rashad. Will and Tray win, but Darnell instigates a fight and slips away. Will clears the court by firing Tray's gun into the air and is arrested. Will's mother and her brother-in-law, Philip Banks, get him released and brought to Bel-Air, Los Angeles to live with Philip. He hitches a ride with a local named Jazz and goes to a fundraiser for Phil's District Attorney campaign. Will is on good terms with his aunt and two cousins Hilary and Ashley, but Philip worries that he will ruin his campaign. Will flirts with Lisa, who happens to be his cousin Carlton's ex-girlfriend. Will learns that Tray's in trouble and tries to run away; he's caught by the house manager, Geoffrey. He watches Carlton play lacrosse and flirts with Lisa again. He nearly starts a fight when one of the players, Connor, starts singing racist terms. Later, Will catches Carlton sniffing Xanax and agrees to stay silent if he helps get Uncle Phil and Aunt Viv to ease up on him. They pretend to make peace and go to Connor's beach party. Will meets Lisa again and kisses her, and a jealous Carlton pushes Will into the pool. Will can't swim, so Lisa pulls him out, and he punches Connor and Carlton.
2	"Keep Ya Head Up"	Carl Seaton	JaNeika James & JaSheika James	February 13, 2022 (2022-02-13)
Will gets a call from his mother that his friend, Tray was shot. Will attends his first day at Bel-Air Academy and is humiliated in front of the entire Junior Class by Carlton. Uncle Phil is interviewed on a Radio Show by Big Boy and asked more questions about his personal life than political. Hilary gets an offer from Haute Magazine but on the condition that she tone down her recipes and outfits. With the help of Jazz, Uncle Phil, and Tyler's advice, Will is able to get a spot on the basketball team, but while leaving campus his bag is searched and Connor planted cocaine in his bag.
3	"Yamacraw"	Nick Copus	Yolonda Lawrence	February 13, 2022 (2022-02-13)
After what happened at school, Will has in-school suspension. However, Phil and Vivian discovers that the Principal didn't watch the tapes of who planted the drugs in Will's bag. After got things sorted out and returned to school, Phil invites Will to a crawfish boil event where his fraternity host.
4	"Canvass"	Dale Stern	Nicole Delaney & Henry "Hank" Jones	February 17, 2022 (2022-02-17)
Phil convinces Hilary, Carlton, Will and Ashley to get fifty people to register to vote. He makes a deal with Carlton that if he doesn't make drama with Will, he'll get VIP seats to the Grand Prix at Monaco. Will discovers from Tray that Rashad now knows he's in Bel-Air, which leads to Geoffrey to help. He discovers from Hilary that Carlton made a deal with Phil which leads him to make a deal with Vivian that if he doesn't make drama with Carlton, they can fly Tray out for the weekend which she accepts.
5	"PA to LA"	Tasha Smith	Ephraim Salaam & Rasheed Newson	February 24, 2022 (2022-02-24)
6	"The Strength to Smile"	Aurora Guerrero	TJ Brady & Paul Eriksen	March 3, 2022 (2022-03-03)
7	"Payback's a B*tch"	Ava Berkofsky	Carla Banks Waddles	March 10, 2022 (2022-03-10)
8	"No One Wins When The Family Feuds"	Sylvain White	JaNeika James & JaSheika James	March 17, 2022 (2022-03-17)
9	"Can't Knock The Hustle"	Matthew A. Cherry	Malcolm Spellman & Rasheed Newson	March 24, 2022 (2022-03-24)
10	"Where To?"	Dale Stern	Morgan Cooper & Malcolm Spellman & T.J. Brady	March 31, 2022 (2022-03-31)

Reception[]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 66% of 47 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's consensus reads, "Bel-Air replaces its predecessor's high spirits with a dour tone and an uneasy mix of realism, although there are signs that this reimagining can grow into a fresh new spin."^[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 59 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[18]

References[]

External links[]

• Bel-Air at IMDb
• Bel-Air on Peacock